Tönnies, Ferdinand (1855–1936)

Ferdinand Tönnies was born in Schleswig, Germany. In 1881, he became a lecturer in sociology at the University of Kiel, where he remained until 1933, when the Nazis ousted him. His most famous book, Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (Community and Civil Society), was first published in 1887. Although his written work is extensive, including more than 900 references, most of it has never been translated into English. His interest in sociological research extended to investigating the empirical dimensions of social ills, such as suicide and crime, and inventing his own technique for statistical association.

Tönnies believed that all facts in society and social relationships are products of the human will. According to his theory, there are two forms of human will: the essential will, which is a manifestation of the actor's nature; and arbitrary will, which is deliberative and goal oriented. He called social groups based on essential will community (Gemeinschaft). A good example is rural life, where people share a feeling of belonging that results from their similar life experiences. Social interactions are self-fulfilling and based on sentiment.

Civil society (Gesellschaft) is grounded on arbitrary will. A typical form is urban life, where people perceive little sense of commonality. Their differences in background appear more striking than their similarities. Social interactions are more likely to be instrumental, where self-interest dominates.

Initially, Tönnies conceived the relationship between community and society in evolutionist terms. Social change proceeded gradually, and he regarded with nostalgia the progressive loss of communitarian ties. Later, he came to consider these categories as theoretical constructs and perceived social formations as always including both, but in varying degrees.

In those societies in which community dominates, social order is based on a consensus of wills and is developed by folkways and mores. Social control prevails through informal means such as moral persuasion or gossip. Religion and tradition contribute to legitimate social norms. In civil society, social order is contractual, based on the union of rational wills.

It rests on convention and agreement. Society may also use formal methods including laws and legally defined punishments. Public opinion provides an ideological justification for social norms.

Tönnies pointed out the intimate connection between law and social structure, suggesting that the transition from community to society was accompanied by a transformation of law from common or customary norms to contract or statutory law. Thus, the evolution of law reveals that the less personal elements in law have become dominant in the course of history, as the state monopolizes modern law.